The Journal
by Ognonamis
Summary: Vincent discovers a foreign object in his apartment. A book but when he opens it up, he realizes that it's a personal journal that belongs to Yuffie. Does he decide to read it or leave it alone like he should.  Post DOC. Yuffentine of course. R&R please.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters or settings. They belong to Square Enix. I'm just borrowing them for a little story.

_So this is the first in a series of stories. I wouldn't quite call them oneshots but they will be fairly short. Well, at least for the time being anyway. They may escalate into bigger stories eventually. Anyway, this is the first in a series of stories. They are Yuffentine. After playing Dirge of Cerberus, I just thought that they would make a good couple._

_Spoiler Alert! There may be references to Dirge of Cerberus. Don't quite know where his story will go and don't know for sure if Dirge of Cerberus will come up at all but I'm putting up the spoiler alert just in case. That being said…enjoy!_

**VII VII VII VII VII**

The Journal

Chapter 1

Things were pretty quiet at 7th Heaven. Tifa wasn't planning on opening that night so she was cooking supper for her, Cloud, Denzel, and Marlene. Cloud was off doing deliveries and Denzel and Marlene were both upstairs doing their homework. Yeah, things were pretty quiet until the front door of 7th Heaven flung open. Tifa jumped and turned around quickly to find Yuffie running into the bar. "God Yuffie! You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?"

"Oh my god Tifa, I'm so glad you're here. I have a total and complete emergency on my hands." Yuffie explained. "I have a really big problem and you're the only one that can help me with it. I just don't know what to do."

"Yuffie, calm down." Tifa said as she walked around the bar to talk to her friend. She pulled Yuffie over to one of the booths at the far end of the room and sat her down. Tifa sat down across from her and prepared herself mentally for whatever could have Yuffie this upset. "Okay Yuffie, take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

Yuffie took a deep breath and went on to explain her emergency situation. "Okay, I set my journal down somewhere and I can't remember where I put it." Tifa sat back in her seat. She couldn't believe it. Yeah, it was always bad for a woman to lose her journal. A journal was a woman's best friend. She herself had on occasion misplaced her own journal and was frantic until she found it again. She wrote down everything that was on her mind and just the thought of anyone getting a hold of it and reading it was mortifying. If she wrote all of her personal thoughts in her own journal, God knows what Yuffie's journal had in it. "Tifa, are you even listening at all? This is a real emergency here. If anyone read the stuff that I wrote in it, I would, I would, I would be humiliated."

Tifa opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She wanted to ask her what she wrote in her journal that would humiliate her that bad but didn't think Yuffie would tell her. "I was listening Yuffie. I'm just trying to figure out what to tell you that will calm you down. The way you barged in here, I thought someone was killed or something."

Yuffie bit her lip and looked down at the table. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything. I just really need to find my journal before…" Her sentence trailed off. Tifa noticed and wondered who in particular she was worried about reading it.

"Before what?" Tifa asked trying to get her to open up a little more.

"What? Nothing." Yuffie answered quickly. "I just really need to find it," Tifa knew that she wasn't entirely truthful but decided to let it go. Yuffie would tell her more when she was ready.

Tifa sighed. "Okay Yuffie, backtrack your steps. Where do you last remember seeing it?" She asked hoping that it would calm her friend down and maybe jog her memory a little.

Yuffie sat forward in her seat and rested her head on her hands. "Well, I had it when I left Wutai and then I went to visit Cid and Shera. I had it when I left there and went to visit Nanaki. I had it when I left there and visited Reeve." She paused for a second and her face went white like she was about to get sick. She looked up at Tifa. "Oh my god!" Her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth.

"Did you have it when you left Reeve's house?" Tifa asked. Yuffie just nodded, eyes still wide and mouth still covered. "Okay, where did you go after that?"

"I uh, I visited Vincent after. Oh my god! I think I left my journal at Vincent's apartment." She reached across the table and grabbed Tifa's arms. "Tifa, I need your help. What do I do?"

"Relax Yuffie. All you have to do is go back to Vincent's apartment and ask him if he found it. It's not that hard. I'm sure he will give it to you if he found it." Tifa suggested to Yuffie. Yuffie just shook her head, got up, and walked to the other side of the room to lean against the bar. "Yuffie, why are you so freaked out about this?"

"Tifa, it's about him." She blurted out. Tifa's eyes went wide. "The whole thing is about him and all the things about him that I like and dislike and my feelings…" Her sentence trailed off when she looked over at Tifa and realized that she probably shared too much. She walked back over to the booth and sat down across from Tifa. "Tifa, I'm not ready for him to know what I have written in my journal."

Tifa took a deep breath and leaned over the table. "Yuffie, are you in love with Vincent?" Yuffie froze in place and that told Tifa that she was right. "Oh my God, you are in love with him." Knowing Yuffie, she was probably embarrassed to admit it. Yuffie and Vincent were worlds apart personality wise but they were close. It was a little surprising but not totally shocking to hear that Yuffie was in love with him. Tifa took a deep breath and reached across the table to touch Yuffie's shoulder. "Yuffie, I'm sure that if Vincent finds your journal, he won't read it."

Yuffie pulled away quick. "What? That's it? You're not going to tease me or poke fun or anything? You're not going to say 'Oh my god Yuffie, are you crazy?' or 'What the hell has gotten into you?' or anything like that?"

Tifa was shocked. Did Yuffie think that little of her? Did she really think that she would make fun of her for being in love? "Yuffie, why would I do something like that?"

Yuffie looked down for a second before answering. "I don't know. I guess because Vincent isn't like other guys. He's all dark and mysterious with that cape and those red eyes and…" Her sentence trailed off into a daydream about him. She could picture him right now.

"Yuffie?" Tifa waved a hand in front of her face to snap her out of it and bring her back to reality.

Yuffie's face flushed red and she smiled. "Sorry. I guess I got off topic there for a second."

"Listen to me for a minute. There is nothing wrong with you being in love with Vincent. All of us know that he's different but that's just what makes him unique. That's what makes him Vincent. I mean, look at Cloud. He's not exactly normal."

"I hope you mean that in a good way." Cloud said making both Tifa and Yuffie jump. Cloud walked over to the booth and kissed Tifa on the forehead.

"Of course." Tifa answered him with a smile. "I didn't hear you come in. Did you come in through the back?"

"Yeah." Cloud answered. He looked over at Yuffie and then back to Tifa. "What's going on?"

"It's just some girl problems." Tifa said. "It's nothing you really have to worry about."

Cloud looked from Tifa to Yuffie and back to Tifa again and then shrugged. "Okay." He paused for a second. "Are Marlene and Denzel upstairs?"

"Yeah, they're doing their homework." Tifa answered. "Dinner should be ready in a few hours."

"Okay." Cloud said before walking off towards the stairs.

After Cloud was upstairs and out of sight, the conversation started up between Tifa and Yuffie again. "So Yuffie, do you know what you're going to do about your journal being missing?"

"I guess I'm going to have to go back to Vincent's apartment and see if I left it there. I just hope that I'm not too late." Yuffie said as she stood up. "Could you do me a favor though?" Tifa nodded and waited for her to continue. "Could you maybe call Vincent for me? Maybe you could ask him if he found anything of mine at his apartment. Could you please?"

"Yeah, I'll call him for you." Tifa answered.

"Thanks!" Yuffie said as she ran out the door. She had to get to Vincent's apartment as quickly as possible.

**VII VII VII VII VII**

Vincent had been picking up some things around his apartment when he first noticed it. It was a book laying on the floor under the edge of his couch. "Hmmm, what's this?" He said to himself as he bent down and picked it up. He looked over at his book shelf to see if it was one of his books but there were no books missing. He sat down on the couch and stared at the book in his hands.

He didn't recognize the book at all. It was leather bound and thick. It looked to be a bit old but not too old. He opened it up to the first page, glanced at it and closed it quickly. It was a journal. It wasn't his journal either despite his name being written in it. He set it down on the couch cushion beside him and looked away. Why would his name be in someone else's journal? He kept to himself most of the time and didn't really talk a whole lot so it seemed unlikely that anyone would write about him in a journal. He looked back down at the book again. He didn't even know who it belonged to. He had had a few people at his apartment recently who could've accidently dropped it. He looked away from it again.

He looked around the room, trying to find something that he could busy himself with so he wouldn't think about why his name was inside someone else's journal but didn't find anything. It was nagging at him and he wanted to see for himself why his name was in it but he knew that it was wrong to read someone else's journal. He continued to look around the room, hoping that he would find something to keep him occupied, when his eyes fell back on the journal on the cushion beside him.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Vincent picked up the journal and opened it up to the first page.

_March 18_

_So I really didn't get to do what I wanted to today. I originally planned on visiting all of my friends but a freak storm hit and now I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere sleeping in the mouth of a cave. It's a good thing it isn't cold outside. Anyway, I've been trying to figure out who to visit first. Vincent's apartment is probably the same distance from here that 7__th__ Heaven is. Reeve is a little further away than that, and I could care less whether I visit Cid or not. I would visit Barret but I'm sure that he's busy right now. He usually is._

_So there is my dilemma. I don't know who to visit first. I mean, I like talking to Tifa but she's probably going to be busy with Marlene and Denzel and getting things ready for opening the bar at night. She might not have time to just hang out. I guess I could always visit Vincent._

_I would say that I like going to visit Vincent because I like talking to him but I'm usually the one who does all of the talking. He seems like such a loner sometimes, not that I blame him or anything. Cloud was like that sometimes too. I guess it's because of all of the stuff both of them had to go through._

_I guess I will visit Vincent first. Sometimes he makes me laugh at how serious he is all the time. I think that he needs to lighten up some. You know, I don't think I've ever seen him smile. Yeah, I've seen him smirk but never smile. It's kind of sad. And he's so pre-occupied all the time. It's like he's always do deep in thought. He misses a lot of the things happening around him. For instance, the last two or three times I've seen him, I've done things to purposely make him laugh and I don't even get a smirk. All he did was stare at me with those gorgeous red eyes._

Vincent sat back for a second, wide eyed and shocked. Gorgeous? Someone thought he had gorgeous red eyes. Who actually thought anything about him was gorgeous? He turned his eyes back to the journal.

_God I hope he didn't see me blushing. I almost bet that I was blushing. Anyway, I guess I should probably get going now. I have to get some sleep inside this smelly cave before I leave in the morning. I just hope that the storm is past by then._

_The Single White Rose of Wutai_

_Yuffie_

Vincent closed the journal quickly and tossed it onto the cushion beside him. He couldn't believe what he just read. Did Yuffie have a crush on him? He considered her a good friend and would risk his life for her but did she really like him more than a friend? More importantly, what was he supposed to do about it? Was he supposed to ask Yuffie about it? If he did that, Yuffie would get mad at him for reading her journal. He wasn't sure what do. Wondering just how much was in Yuffie's journal about him, Vincent picked the journal up off the couch cushion and opened it up about a quarter of the way into the journal. A picture fell out of it.

It was Vincent but it was an old picture from back when he was a Turk. It was back when his hair was considerably shorter. He set the picture aside and started reading.

_May 24_

_Oh my god! I can't believe what I found today. I was at the WRO Headquarters and was snooping around in the files on the computer and guess what I found? I found a picture of Vincent from when he was a Turk. God, he looked so different then. His hair is so much shorter and he didn't have split ends._

Vincent stopped reading and sat there for a second. Did he really have split ends? He really never paid attention. He grabbed a lock of his long black hair and held it up in front of his face. He grimaced slightly. He really did have split ends. He dropped the lock of his hair and started reading again.

_Man, I wonder what he would look like now if he had short hair. I bet he would look good, especially if he bought some new clothes._

Vincent stopped reading again and looked down at his clothes. What was wrong with his clothes? He sighed in frustration and continued reading, vowing not to stop again no matter what it said about him.

_It's really not all of his clothes that buts me. It's mostly just that cape thing. I swear it looks like mice have been chewing on it while he was sleeping. And what about the boots? Why are they so pointy? Can't he wear normal shoes like everyone else? His pointy boots make his feet look huge. Oh, and his gauntlet things is a little weird too. It looks like he's got a robot hand. Not that I have anything against that sort of thing because I so don't. He could also do with a different color in his wardrobe._

_Oh wow! I just realized that I do kind of have a problem with everything he wears. It doesn't matter though. He'll be gorgeous no matter what he wears. I wish I could tell him how much I like him. I would but I don't think he would have a reaction to it. Either that or it would push him away and I so don't want that._

_Anyway, I guess that's all my ranting for the day._

_The Single White Rose of Wutai_

_Yuffie_

Vincent sat back in his seat and held the journal against his chest. Yuffie really did like him. He didn't think anyone thought that way about him. It didn't seem likely at all. He picked up the picture and slipped it back into the journal. Hopefully she wouldn't notice that he'd been reading her journal. He knew that it was wrong but he didn't regret doing it. Even though he didn't really like all the comments about his hair and clothes, he did like the idea that there was one person that didn't find him completely appalling. He smiled to himself and set the journal back down on the couch cushion. His next conversation with Yuffie was going to be interesting.

**VII VII VII VII VII**

_So there you go. I hope you like it. It's definitely not done. I realized a couple of things as I was writing it. The first thing I realized was that the ideas that I had for the stories to come after this would fit into this story perfectly. The other thing I realized was that I'm having way too much fun with this. I especially liked writing the journal entry commenting on Vincent's split ends and ratty looking clothes and pointy boots that make his feet look way too big. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Please let me know what you think._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters or settings. They belong to Square Enix. I'm just borrowing them for a little story.

_So thanks for the reviews so far. I really appreciate it. There will definitely be more journal entries in this chapter. Poor Vincent just can't help himself. LOL. Spoiler alert. There may be references to Dirge of Cerberus. There was in the last chapter so I figured that I would post an alert on this chapter too. If you haven't played Dirge of Cerberus, you may not want to read this. The spoilers are only minor though. Anyway, I really don't know what else to day besides, Enjoy!_

**VII VII VII VII VII**

The Journal

Chapter 2

Dinner had been good and the kids were off playing when Tifa decided to call Vincent for Yuffie. The phone only rang a couple of times before he picked up. "Yeah?" He answered.

"Hey Vincent." Tifa greeted. She wasn't sure exactly how to go about asking him if he had found Yuffie's journal. She thought about acting if it belonged to her but then decided not to just in case he actually did read it. She didn't want to chance him thinking that she thought of him that way. She was in love with Cloud.

"Did you need something Tifa?" Vincent asked.

Tifa took a deep breath. "Yeah." She paused for a second. "Yuffie wanted me to ask you if she left anything at your apartment the last time she was there. I'm not sure what she misplaced but she seems to be pretty worried about it."

"Hmmm. I haven't found anything." Vincent lied. "I will check my apartment and if I see anything, I'll set it aside for her."

"Thanks Vincent." Tifa said before she hung up the phone. She sat there on the couch for a minute, wondering if Vincent was telling the truth or not. It seemed like he was but then again, people tend to lie to keep themselves from getting into trouble.

"What was that about?" Cloud asked as he walked into the room and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Yuffie wanted me to call Vincent for her. She misplaced her journal and she thinks that she left it at his apartment." Tifa explained.

"Is that why she was so freaked out earlier? If you ask me, it isn't really a big deal. So she lost her journal. It's not the end of the world." Cloud said as he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

"It is the end of the world when her journal is about him." Tifa said and then covered her mouth up immediately. She wasn't supposed to say anything. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

Cloud muted the television and looked over at her, a look of shock plain on his face. "Her journal is about Vincent? Does Yuffie have a crush on him or something?"

Tifa smiled and covered her red face. "You could call it that."

The way Tifa said it made Cloud think that it was a little bit more than just a crush. He wanted to say something but he decided to leave it alone for the time being. Whatever was going on between Vincent and Yuffie was none of his business and he really didn't want to get involved.

**VII VII VII VII VII**

Vincent paced his room frantically. He had tried to get to sleep twice already but just ended up tossing and turning for an hour before getting up. He tried watching television but there was nothing on that occupied his mind long enough for him to fall asleep. He even tried twiddling his thumbs in hopes that he would get bored enough to fall asleep. He couldn't remember the last time he had so much trouble getting to sleep.

Yuffie's journal must have been the reason why he couldn't sleep. It was the only thing different he had done and it stirred up emotions he didn't even know he had. He had only really been in love once and it didn't turn out well so he never really opened up to anyone after that. He really never opened up to Yuffie that much but she must have saw something in him that nobody else did.

Vincent sat down on his bed and grabbed Yuffie's journal off his nightstand. Had had carried it with him all afternoon wondering why Yuffie had written about him and why Yuffie thought he was gorgeous. He knew that he wasn't supposed to read it but, like earlier that day, curiosity got the best of him. He opened it up to a random page and started reading.

_October 30_

_So, Halloween is tomorrow. I can't wait. It's not that I'm planning on going trick-or-treating or anything cuz I'm not. I just want to dress up. I'm at 7__th__ Heaven right now. I came so I could get help with my Halloween costume and was there late so I just spent the night. Marlene is dressing up as a princess and Denzel is dressing up as a ninja. It's a super awesome costume if you ask me cuz ninja's are kick ass._

_I don't know if Cloud or Tifa are dressing up as anything. I think Barret's taking the kids out trick-or-treating and I know that he isn't going to dress up. God, some people are so boring._

_Hmmm, I wonder what Vincent is going to dress up as if he decides to dress up. I think he should dress up as a vampire. It would be perfect. He has that tall, dark, and handsome look already. He's got the creepy cape thing and those gorgeous red eyes. And to top it all off, when we first found him, he was sleeping in a coffin. How perfect is that? It's completely perfect. He doesn't even need to dress up at all. All he has to do is go out just the way he is. I wonder if he'll even come over. I think I'll call him and ask._

_Gotta go._

_The Single White Rose of Wutai_

_Y__uffie_

Vincent closed the book and thought back to the day that Yuffie was referring to in her journal. She called his cell phone and was rambling on and on about costumes and Halloween. He wasn't really into dressing up for Halloween and considered the holiday something that was more for children. Then again, Yuffie was a considerable amount younger than him despite his youthful appearance.

He smirked at the thought of Yuffie dressing up. Vincent dismissed the thought and opened up the journal again, this time to a recent entry.

_November 10_

_Woohoo! There's only ten more days until my birthday. I wonder if I'll get any gifts. I'd really love to have a party but I don't know who to invite. I mean, I know that I'd invite Tifa and Cloud and of course they would have to bring Marlene and Denzel. I would invite Barret and Nanaki and of course, it wouldn't be the same without Vincent. I might even invite the Turks too. I'm sure Reno would be fun to have at a party._

_To be honest, I think Tifa might be throwing a surprise party. Every time I see her, she's all secretive about things. That and I did a little snooping around and I saw some party supplies tucked away behind the bar. Oh, I hope that she does. And if she does, I really hope she doesn't forget to invite Vincent._

_Who knows? Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I really shouldn't count my chocobos before they hatch. She may not be planning a surprise party for me at all. Maybe she's just stocking up on party supplies for when Marlene and Denzel have birthday parties._

_I know what I'm hoping to get for my birthday but I'm not going to write it down because I don't want to jinx it. I have to get going because I have stuff to do so I gotta go._

_The Single White Rose of Wutai_

_Yuffie_

Vincent set the journal down on his night stand and just sat there thinking. What could Yuffie possibly want for her birthday that she couldn't write in her journal? Did it have something to do with him? It was weird. He never really thought of Yuffie in the way that she thought of him. He never did until he picked up her journal and started reading it. For some odd reason, he had always been kind of close to Yuffie. It was strange that he would be close to her because they were so different from one another.

He looked up at his clock and sighed in frustration. It was almost three in the morning and he still couldn't get to sleep. That's what made up his mind. He was going to take the journal to Tifa and have Tifa give it to Yuffie. He grabbed Yuffie's journal off his night stand and walked to the front door.

After getting outside, Vincent set off towards 7th Heaven. He knew it would take a while to get there from his apartment but he didn't care. He needed something to get his mind off Yuffie's journal and what was written in it about him. The great outdoors was just what he needed to clear his head.


End file.
